


Free Fallin'

by bennysburgers83



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bryan Adams, F/M, Fair, Ferris Wheels, Heaven, funnel cakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 15:52:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17686466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bennysburgers83/pseuds/bennysburgers83
Summary: El's first trip to the fair doesn't go as planned. Mike Wheeler is a bundle of nerves but everything is all right.





	Free Fallin'

**Author's Note:**

> To Justiceforflo on Insta and all my loves over there too. I love you all so much and thank you for being a inspiration everyday!

"What the fuck do you mean you LOST her” Mike was trying not to yell at Dustin but.... it was fucking Dustin. “I mean I was telling her about the bottle milk game and how fucking rigged that piece of shit is. I mean come on, we know the bottles are weighted and they are concrete but”

“DUSTIN!!!!!” Everybody but Mike had yelled this. They all could see Mike was losing patience and worry was starting to creep in. Max decided to take point. “Ok so she couldn’t have gone far. Me and Lucas and will check by the food stalls” Mike cut in “Look for the funnel cake stalls, she loves them. Thinks they are waffles” He smiled, like he was having some dream in his head about his girlfriend and waffles. “Alllllllright, Dustin and Will, check by the swings and all those rides and Mike” He  made eye contact with Max and she could definitely see the worry now. “Check by the Ferris wheel and games ok? First one to find her, come find everybody else” Dustin held up a hand. “Wait here, take these and first one to find her, send one up” Dustin pulled from his back pack 3 bottle rockets and handed 1 to Max and Lucas and one to Mike.

 “Dustin, how am I supposed to” Lucas began but stopped short as Dustin pulled from his pockets 2 lighters.

“Dude, survival camp messed you up” Dustin turned to Lucas, shock and hurt across his face. “It was an amazing time and admit it, this is a good idea!”

 “Only be better if you had a flare gun” Max said, eyeing the bottle rocket and lighter in her hands.

“And then I’d be even weirder to you guys..... So be grateful for the rockets”

 “Ok everybody start looking and meet back here in 10 if you don’t find her.” Max nodded to Mike put her hand on his shoulder. “She is around here somewhere Mike, don’t worry. We are gonna find her.”

  * • •



El didn’t really wanna leave Dustin, it was just he was talking about a game she had never played let alone heard of before. She’d been staring around, enjoying the smells and all the different people that walked around with large things that looked like clouds and, to Els amazement, apples covered in sugar. It wasn’t the food that made El wander, no it was the music. She’d heard it, faintly over Dustin’s bickering. Coming from what looked like a gigantic bicycle wheel with lights and, El squinted at it, were those people in those baskets? Her curiosity got the best of her as she found her feet moving her towards the ride. As she moved closer she heard the music again and it brought a smile to her lips. As the music floated around her, El closed her eyes and thought back to the first time she’d heard the song.

 

Mike had just got done with his homework, while El read her new book Hopper had gotten her from the library. The book wasn’t hard to read but it also wasn’t easy. She had to stop a couple of times and ask Mike what a word meant or why Nancy would say this to another character in the book. Mike was happy to help, he loved explaining things to her and she loved watching him use his hands to try to get her to understand.

 

“Hey, how’s the book?”

 

“It’s ok, getting harder and harder to understand some stuff but I like it.” El sat the book down next to her and reached for Mike’s hand. She’d found herself wanting to hold his hand all the time these days. She just liked the way his hand fit in hers. “Hey so I heard Nancy listening to this tape and i thought, since you love music so much now, that maybe you’d like to listen to it?” Mike made a motion to the cassette tape in his hand and El’s eyes lit up. “Please Mike.... Please can we listen to it?” Mike smiled and made a move to the tape player but not before he was stopped dead in his tracks. Hand slightly out of El’s hand but not far. Mike smiled, well, he thought he smiled. His whole body had gone stiff and he couldn’t really tell if his mouth moved or not. “El, can you please let me go? Thought you wanted to listen to the music?”

 

“I do, I just wanted to give you something first but you moved so I..... I stopped you.” The last part of her sentence was mostly filled with giggles as she made her way in front of Mike and stood on her tip toes. She smiled at him and slowly leaned into him, lips pressing to his. Mike’s Brain shut down for half a second before he realized she’d let him go. Mike made a move to place his hand on the small of her back, but El was too quick and was already backing away, cheeky smile across her face. “Go get the tape player mike; I want to hear this music you’d thought I’d like.”

 

“What’s the name of the tape anyway?”

 

Mike turned the cassette over and looked at the guy on the front “It says Bryan Adams, Reckless. I don’t know him but Nancy seems to love him so, figured it couldn’t hurt for you to listen to it”

 

 

 

                Mike was pretty sure he was going to lose his mind in the next ten minutes if he didn’t find El. He’d lost her before but that wasn’t his doing at all. This was a totally new animal Mike was wrestling in this head and he didn’t know who to beat it. What if she had gotten taken? What if they had found her and shown up at the fair? Had they been followed? He knew they should have taken a couple of laps around the fair before they stopped to come inside but everyone was so excited. He couldn’t wait to see the look on El’s face when they finally got her her funnel cake.

Yet here he is running around the fair because he can’t keep his girlfriend from getting lost. _GOOD JOB WHEELER._  Mike was making his way around the balloon popping stand when he saw her. Standing right behind the line for the Ferris wheel, seemingly fine and just looking up at it, not noticing anyone around her. She was swaying to the music coming from the operator’s position and Mike finally understood why she had left Dustin. All the fear Mike had felt a minute ago faded as he just watched her. Her beauty radiating in the darkness, a beacon to him, a strobe of light to help find his way back home.  He stood there for a couple of minutes more, when suddenly, an idea hit Mike as he looked up at the wheel. He began to make his way to her and, like times before, started to call out her name softly as he got closer. He didn’t want to frighten her, making a scene at the fair was the last thing he needed to tell hopper, let alone that he had lost her before she got scared.

“Hey El, El……It’s me, Mike”

El turned to see Mike and smiled. “Mike, I heard this song and had to figure out where it was coming from and, its coming from this ride.”

“That’s a Ferris Wheel El, You get in one of the baskets and it takes you around and around. Sound fun to you?” Mikes plan hinged on El’s next answer and he hoped it would be the one he was looking for.

“Can we….Can we ride it? Oh Mike I’d love to ride it if……If I can ride it with you?”

Mike hoped the sharp intake of breath he took could be only be heard by him but he’s sure El heard it, mostly because of the way she was blushing just as hard as he was. He loved her. He loved her so much that it kept him up at night. He had loved her since the first time he kissed her, back in the cafeteria the night she vanished. He was doing his best to hold it in but there were times, like right now, where he was sure it was going to burst from his chest.

“I wouldn’t want to ride with anyone other than you El.”

El ducked her head and leaned into Mike for a hug. Mike folded his arms around her and slowly moved them into the line for the ride.

 

 

 

El could hear Mike’s heart beating as she laid her head against his chest. She liked the way it sounded, like a drum beating to her favorite song.  She sighed a content sigh and leaned against Mike as he sat his chin atop her head, both oblivious to the world around them as they stood in line for the ride.

 

“El you gotta let go for a second so we can get on” El looked up at Mike and nodded and turned to find herself face to face with the ride operator.

“How many?” He barked at her and she jumped slightly. Mike was still holding one of her hands and he squeezed it as he spoke the operator.

 

“Just two, sir” The operator waved them to the basket in front of him and Mike let El go first as he stood behind her, helping her crawl into the seat. “Hey, hold on for a second ok.” Mike turned to the operator and whispered something to him then took something out of his pocket and handed it to the man. The man looked up at mike and then to El in the basket and then just smiled. He slapped Mike on the arm and waved him back to this seat.

 

“What was that about? What did you give him?”

 

“I don’t know what you are talking about El.” Mike said with a slight smile on his face as he pulled the lap bar down and secured it. She felt the ride jerk and instinctually grabbed Mikes hand and looked at him, eyes wide. “It’s ok, it’s just starting to move, here. Slide over here to me” He pulled her over to him and put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed.

“See, everything is fine. Nothing to worry about.” El nodded as the ride began to move. Then she heard it. The distinct sounds of the music that had brought her over to the ride in the first place, the reason she had left Dustin to begin with. But that song had gone off ages ago, so how could it be back on. Mike shyly look over at El and smiled as a voice made its way up to them as they slowly went up.

_“Oh thinkin' about all our younger years_

_There was only you and me_

_We were young and wild and free_

_Now nothin' can take you away from me_

_We've been down that road before_

_But that's over now_

_You keep me comin' back for more_

_Baby, you're all that I want_

_When you're lyin' here in my arms_

_I'm findin' it hard to believe_

_We're in heaven”_

“I may have asked him if it was a tape he was playing and if he could go back to our song. Figured it would be nice to hear while riding you know?  Just makes …..Just makes this moment perfect I think.”

El could only think of doing one thing at that moment so she did it. Her lips crashed with Mikes and he smiled in to the kiss. She wished this moment could have lasted forever, but whatever Mike had in his jacket pocket was poking El in the arm. She leaned back from the kiss and reached for the item that was slowly falling out of Mikes pocket.

 

“Mike what is this?”

 

Mike, seemingly coming out of the haze of the kiss, realized what El was holding and burst out laughing. “Dustin gave those to the party to light and send up whenever one of us found you. Seems I’m…..” Mike checked his watch and laughed again. “about 10 minutes late.” El didn’t like the idea of the others worrying about her.

 

“Do we need to get off and go find them? I don’t want them to worry!”

 

“There’s no rush El, I found you. Everything is fine now. I just……. I just want to enjoy this….With you. This is the best thing right now and I don’t…….I don’t want it to end so quickly. If that’s ok with you?”

 

El smiled and leaned back into him, feeling his warmth spread around her and he placed his arm back around her shoulders. She didn’t really know what the word meant but she would place it with this point in time forever.  This……this was her heaven.

 


End file.
